Deciding to take the plunge to outsource to a call center is a major decision. Turning over the critical function of customer interaction to a third party carries with it inherent risks. But those risks can be managed correctly, enabling the advantages of call center outsourcing to be realized.

November 20, 2014 – The U.S. Commerce Department announced that American consumers spent $78.1 billion on e-commerce purchases in the most recently completed quarter, with e-commerce representing 6.6 percent of all retail sales.

That’s a jump of 16.2 percent in e-commerce consumer activity over the third quarter of 2013 and more than 4 percent above Q2 of this year.

November 18, 2014 - The perennial debate over virtual vs. premises-based call center services will never end, and that’s because there is no single correct answer. But there are correct answers, in our opinion, depending on the type of product or service requiring a call center customer service program.

Nov. 12, 2014 - Call center customer service is important work, rewarding work and it can also be frustrating work. A big part of being professional within a call center services setting is handling frustrating situations with angry callers in a patient way that is intended to resolve the situation in a way that retains the customer’s loyalty and good will.

It can be difficult for the customer service representative to keep his or her composure with an angry or rude caller, and to remain professional throughout a full day of handling inbound calls. But it’s what is required of call center work, remaining professional at all times.

Nov. 7, 2014 - More than 1000 call center managers, consultants and service providers went to this week’s Contact Center Demo and Conference at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Chicago, and the response was that it was an excellent event.

The conference, held by the International Customer Management Institute (ICMI), was centered on boosting call center operations, on utilizing advanced technology and putting in place effective IT strategies, personnel management and lowering staff turnover, training and overall operations.

October 21, 2014 - OnBrand24 has stepped up its credit card and consumer protection infrastructure on behalf of its inbound customer service call center clients and their customers. The company has earned a Merchant Level 1 PCI certified call center services provider. This ranking, rare among outsourced call center services providers, was certified by CompliancePoint, Duluth, GA, a qualified security assessor (QSA) company that offers consulting, audit and training services that help businesses mitigate risk and ensure compliance with the complex array of state, federal and international laws.

“Our clients place great trust and faith in us to properly and securely protect their customers’ credit card and purchasing data, and this is a responsibility we take very seriously,” said Mark Fichera, CEO, OnBrand24. “With the security breaches that have taken place at Target, Home Depot and, more recently, a potential breach at Staples,it’s important that we take every measure possible to ensure that customer data is handled in the most secure manner. This is a critically important aspect of customer service.”

Sept. 24, 2014 - As with nearly all aspects of life, technology is revolutionizing outsourced call center services. And as with so many other things, it’s hard to comprehend how the call center did its job, back in the day, without technology accessible to everyone.

Sept. 23, 2014 - We understand there are approximately 3,000 outsourced call centers in the United States. It’s not news if one of the other 2,999+/- states something that we disagree with. But those statements are food for thought, so we thought we’d take one of our competitors on.

Sept. 22, 2014 - If you put an employment listing for a call center customer service agent on craigslist you’ll probably get a good response. Many of them will be those looking for their first “real” job – people who, to date, have worked at grocery stores, fast food restaurants, worked construction and so forth. Now they want something else so they figure they’ll give call center services work a try.